Arkansas bowl game chances need more than last Saturday’s wild luck

Arkansas went to Nashville and beat Vanderbilt 31-21 on Saturday. It was the Hogs’ first SEC win after 14 straight conference losses.

Now some folks are talking about Arkansas bowl game chances again. I understand the excitement, but I’m not ready to go there.

Go ahead and enjoy the Vanderbilt win for a day or two. I’d keep the bragging to a minimum, though.

This Commodores team needed a miracle against North Carolina State. If that game goes the other way, Vandy and Arkansas would’ve had matching records heading into last weekend.

So the Razorbacks beat a team that’s about as good as they are. That’s nice, and it doesn’t tell me a whole lot.

Ryan Silverfield’s group has gotten better, and I’ll give them that. Tennessee, now ranked No. 11, barely got out of Fayetteville with a win the week before.

Getting better and getting to a bowl are two different jobs.

Hope doesn’t check betting line

Remember where the word “fan” comes from. It’s short for “fanatic,” and nobody ever used that word to describe a level-headed person.

Plenty of Hogs fans saw last weekend’s upsets and figured, why not us? I’ve been around Arkansas football long enough to know that feeling well.

One fan made that hopeful case in writing over the weekend, and even he had doubts. He wrote that he’s “still not convinced I’ve seen enough from Arkansas” and wondered if the Hogs can win even one of their last five.

He also guessed Missouri will be favored by more than a field goal on Oct. 31.

Razorback Stadium should be loud that night. Crowd noise has never scored a touchdown, last I checked.

His backup plan for the Texas game was hoping Arch Manning keeps handing the ball to the other team.

A weekend that won’t come back soon

Last Saturday really was strange. You’d have to go back more than 30 years to find a weekend like it.

Georgia was coming off a win at Alabama when Auburn showed up and beat the Bulldogs on their own field.

Notre Dame lost to BYU, and now the Cougars are No. 2.

Miami held off Florida State and is ranked first by the AP. That hadn’t happened since 2002.

UCLA is 6-0 and ranked No. 9 in Bob Chesney’s first season. Nobody else in the Big Ten or SEC is still perfect.

Fun stuff. If your bowl hopes depend on another Saturday like that one, though, you’re going to need some serious luck.

Five games and three wins needed

Arkansas is off this week. No. 22 Missouri comes to Fayetteville on Oct. 31.

The Tigers beat Florida and Texas A&M earlier this season. Ole Miss beat them badly last weekend, but I wouldn’t read too much into one bad night.

After that, the Hogs go to Auburn. Two weeks ago Tennessee handled the Tigers, and now they’re coming off a win at Georgia.

South Carolina visits Nov. 14. The Gamecocks lost their first three games before beating Florida by 19.

The trip to Austin comes next. Texas has dropped two straight, to Oklahoma and Florida, and fallen from No. 1 to No. 19.

LSU finishes the regular season in Fayetteville on Nov. 28. The No. 18 Tigers beat a Mississippi State team that didn’t have Kamario Taylor.

Three of those five are ranked. The other two just beat good teams, so Arkansas could steal one, but three is a tall order.

I’ve looked at that list a few times now, and I still can’t find three wins. My guess is the Razorbacks stay home in December.